How To Shield A Telecaster

Telecaster Shielding How-To Step 1: Strip It Down. Remove everything: strings, pickguard, control plate, bridge plate. Step 2: Coat the Cavities. Coat each of the cavities with the shielding material. Step 3: Coat the Pickguard and Control Cover. Step 4: Remove the Ground Loops. Step 5: Reassemble the Guitar.

How do you shield a Telecaster pickguard?

Use Buzz Kill Copper Tape to shield your guitar! One of the ways to do this is to glue aluminum or copper foil to the underside of a pickguard. As the Fender Strat already had an aluminum shield installed underneath the pickguard, I opted to try something on my Squier Classic Vibe Tele.

How do you shield a guitar body?

There are two main methods to shield a guitar – shielding graphite paint (conductive paint) or more commonly, aluminium or copper tape. Many guitars will come from the factory with conductive paint covering the control and pickup cavities but this is not always the most effective way to shield a guitar.

What does pickguard shielding do?

Stick this aluminum shielding material to the underside of your pickguard to reduce noise, hum and radio interference.

Do telecasters buzz?

It’s a standard Tele with single-coil pickups. The humming noise stops when the player touches the strings or other metal parts of the guitar. The guitar is plugged into a simple solid-state guitar amplifier. The humming noise sounds like 120Hz hum (see update below).

Why use a shield on a guitar?

Shielding allows you to substantially reduce all unwanted interference and hum. This kit is even beneficial for most production instruments as it lets you completely encase all of the pickups and controls with a grounded foil. Also included is a special wire for shielding non-shielded pickup leads.

Will foil tape work for guitar shielding?

You can do this a few ways: copper or aluminum tape, or graphite shielding paint. Shielding paint looks better, but it is expensive. It isn’t a good investment unless you have more than a handful of guitars to shield, and it isn’t something you can just pick up at the local hardware store either.

Are fenders shielded?

Fender started shielding across all lines around 2008 and, even now, their jobs are questionable. They are far more consistent now than they once were but I expect to shield every Fender I buy.

Should you shield a Telecaster?

If you’re a live performer, we recommend shielding the guitar. Here, we’re talking about a Fender Telecaster that normally uses two single-coil pickups, so it’s safe to say it will benefit from shielding. If you use humbuckers and live in a small household area, it’s unlikely you’ll see much difference.

How do you stop a single coil buzz?

Why Do Single Coil Pickups Hum And How To Fix It? Shielding your pickups and guitar body. Getting a Hum Eliminator pedal. Getting a Noise Gate pedal. Installing Noiseless Guitar Pickups.

How much does it cost to shield a guitar?

Shielding paint will be up to about 5x more expensive than foil tape, and can cost up to $50 or more depending on which brand you choose to use.

Is shielding paint conductive?

Reduces hum, noise and radio interference. When connected to electrical ground, the shielded surfaces help reduce noise, hum and radio interference.

Should pickup cavities be shielded?

Shielding an electric guitar is really only necessary if you have single coil pickups and an electrically ‘noisy’ environment. Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) and Electromagnetic Frequency Interference (EMI) around your guitar will cause that all too familiar 60Hz buzz through the amplifier.

Does EMF blocking paint work?

Coating the interior of your home with EMF paint is effective and it’s one of the best solution there is. Technically, it often takes two applications but the EMF shielding paint is the most effective solution there is in blocking frequencies in getting in your room.

Is pickguard necessary?

Pickguards are used to protect the finish of your guitar. If you play with a pick and want to preserve the finish of the guitar then a pickguard is necessary. If you don’t use a pick and/or don’t mind minor scratches or signs of wear from strumming a pickguard isn’t strictly necessary.

Why do I get fret buzz?

Fret buzz is a buzzing noise that occurs when the string vibrates against one or more of the frets. Generally speaking, if the buzz seems to be only at the 1st fret, that usually means the nut is too low, or the grooves in the nut have worn down too low.

How do I stop my low E string from buzzing?

When the player experiences the E-string buzzing when played open, the neck is likely to back bowed (there’s not enough relief). The string is buzzing against the first fret. The fix is simple: increase the amount of relief in the neck by loosening the truss rod. It is also possible the nut slots are cut too deep.

Does guitar wiring need to be shielded?

A ground loop is when you have more than one path to ground. If we were to switch out this wire with shielded wire, the result would be two wires going from the volume to the tone control, which creates a ground loop. You only need to insulate the hot, signal-carrying wires in your guitar circuit.

Is shielding necessary with humbuckers?

Humbuckers will eliminate the interference at the pickup level, while shielding will prevent interference to occur in the rest of the circuit so both are necessary. Even without any shielding.

How do you shield single coil pickups?

How to Shield Single-Coil Pickups Step 1: Remove the Pickups and Electronics. Step 2: Shield the Cavities. Step 3: Shield the Pickguard and Coverplates. Step 4: Replace the Electronics. Step 5: Replace the Pickguard and the Coverplates.

Are Fender custom shop guitars shielded?

Fender® Custom Shop Custom ’69 Pickup Set. The standard 11 hole pickguards are fully aluminum foil shielded as they come from Fender, click for illustration. The ’57, ’62 and ’65 vintage pickguards require a separate aluminum pickguard shield which is to be added extra if so desired.